Industry expert

Jonas Lencer

dRMM, Director

Jonas is a Director at dRMM, managing the strategic development of the practice and overseeing the design, construction and delivery of a portfolio of high profile projects.

As an architect, his speciality is combining design concept and innovative construction techniques, with particular expertise in timber construction and prefabrication. His experience and knowledge enables him to think laterally to develop ingenious solutions for projects across many different sectors.
Residential experience includes Plot N26, a 242-unit housing scheme for the London 2012 Olympic Village and Faraday House, one of the first buildings delivered for the Battersea Power Station regeneration. Jonas is also skilled at designing affordable housing schemes such as Wansey Street, decant housing for the Heygate Estate, and Harper Square, a 72-unit affordable scheme for Family Mosaic.

Jonas’s expertise in timber and off-site construction has been gained through numerous projects at dRMM. He was part of the team who delivered the Tower of Love wedding registry and visitor centre in Blackpool as well as the Sky Health & Fitness Centre. Jonas led the design and delivery of WoodBlock House, a cross-laminated timber house for artist Richard Woods on a compact site in east London. Jonas also designed Endless Stair with fellow director Alex de Rijke for the 2013 London Design Festival. Constructed from tulipwood cross-laminated timber, its modular design allowed it to adapt to different contexts. For the 2014 Milan Salone del Mobile it was reconfigured as Scale Infinite.

Jonas is currently leading the delivery of Charlton Workstack, a series of workshop, creative and light industrial spaces. By stacking the units over five floors and introducing two goods lifts, the footprint of the building is significantly reduced without loss of lettable area. This innovative solution allows light industrial employment spaces to be created on compact urban sites.

He is also overseeing the design and delivery of a 150-unit hotel and a 180-unit apart-hotel in Cambridge. The ground floor level of the hotel includes several publicly accessible spaces, a landscaped garden, a restaurant and retail unit. The scheme responds to the client’s high aspirations for design quality, public realm and contribution to the townscape and is due for completion in 2021.

Jonas lectures internationally on dRMM’s research and body of projects. In 2017 he was invited to sit on the London Borough of Harringay’s Design Review Panel and became an assessor for RIBA Part III at the University of Brighton. In 2018 he was a judge for the UK Wood Awards.